Australian cops name politico, 4 others in case

A politician and four businessmen have been identified as the alleged local contacts of an Australia-based syndicate responsible for the smuggling of P3.6 billion worth of pseudoephedrine from China two years ago.

Cebu City South District Rep. Antonio Cuenco, vice chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, said that the politician and the businessmen facilitated the release of the illegal shipment at the Bureau of Customs and arranged a warehouse where the drug precursor will be stored while waiting for it to be transported to Australia.

Cuenco refused to reveal their names until formal charges are filed, which the National Bureau and Investigation and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency are expected to do on the third week of December.

Cuenco said the NBI and PDEA are on the process of building up an airtight case against these people. NBI deputy director for regional operation service Reynaldo Esmeralda said they already have a strong case against the local contacts.

Cuenco, Esmeralda and PDEA officials met with the Australian federal agents last Tuesday who provided them with evidence and identities of the contacts in Cebu.

Esmeralda said they are just pooling all the evidence to support the filing of the criminal complaint against them. Like Cuenco, Esmeralda also refused to reveal the names of the local contacts until formal complaints are filed.

But, Esmeralda said one of the local contacts is a prominent and influential personality in Cebu. Esmeralda did not anymore give additional hints.

Cuenco refused to give additional hints on the identity of the local contacts. Cuenco even refused to answer when asked whether the three businessmen are Cebuanos or not, saying they will be known as soon as charges are filed.

Cuenco also refused to say whether the politician involved is an incumbent or a former official. Former vice governor John Gregory Osmeña was earlier implicated in the illegal drug importation because three of his staff are listed as incorporators of Coastside Ventures Incorporated, which was listed as consignee of the shipment.

Osmeña's telephone numbers in his office were likewise listed as the numbers of the Coastside Ventures Incorporated.

Both Cuenco and Esmeralda said that the local contacts of the syndicate were identified through the evidence gathered by the Australian Federal Police, which were also used against the two members of the syndicate who were caught in Australia.

In fact, the two members of the syndicate, Leslie James Norton and Rodney Allan James, were convicted in Australia last November 17.

Australian federal agents Kurt Plummer and Mark Kelly told the members of the House committee on dangerous drugs that Norton was sentenced to four and a half years imprisonment for conspiracy to import the chemical precursor while James was also sentenced three years and nine months for the same offense.

Cuenco said the Philippine government is already requesting from the Australian government copies of these pieces of evidence because these will be used against the local contacts.

Cuenco said wiretapped conversations between the local contacts of the syndicate have helped identify them. Esmeralda said they also have a picture of one of the alleged local contacts aside from the wiretapped conversations.

It was not however established whether the local contacts have also financed the illegal shipment.

What was established was that they facilitated for the release of the shipment and offered bribes to Customs officials.

Even if they have yet to file formal charges, Esmeralda said that the smuggling of the 1,740 kilograms of pseudoephedrine on March 5, 2004 at the Cebu International Port has already been solved.

The local contacts also reportedly arranged for the transport of the drug precursor to Australia, supposedly via a chartered plane. This did not anymore happen since the goods were seized.

Cuenco said they have set a deadline on the third week of December to file criminal charges against the local contacts. The only thing definite about the case is that the consignee will be among those charged.

Coastside Ventures Incorporated, which was the listed as consignee was represented by a certain Mike Cummings. However, the incorporators of the company are Joebert Cuesta, Rowena Roldan and Rorela Villagas, who all worked at the office of former vice governor Osmeña.